Sea Pines lawsuit gets new trial. Here are the details
A lawsuit over public funding for a private project in Sea Pines waterways will move forward after the South Carolina Court of Appeals ruled it was improperly dismissed. The original complaint, filed in 2022 by Hilton Head resident Ryan McAvoy, said the town’s use of $600,000 in public funds to subsidize a dredging project in the Harbour Town Yacht Basin, Braddock Cove Creek and their entrance channels violated South Carolina law, since those waterways are private.
The suit was heard in Beaufort County Circuit Court in 2023 and dismissed after the court found the plaintiff “failed to produce evidence” showing the waterways were private. The plaintiff filed an appeal, and on April 1, the court reversed the dismissal and sent the case back for a completely new trial. The lower court, the new decision said, “abused its discretion” in 2023 by granting the town’s ask to dismiss the case, since the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to survive the dismissal. McAvoy also presented evidence that the basin in question primarily serves Sea Pines, which is a “private, gated community,” the court found.
The appellate court said the key issue at play is not whether the waterways are public or private, but whether the purpose of the funding actually benefited the public. The court did not rule on whether the funding was lawful.
The project in question
The dredging project was organized by the South Island Dredging Association, a group made up of the Gull Point Association, South Beach Property Owners Association, South Beach Marina, Baynard Property Owner Group and boat slip owners in Harbour Town Yacht Club. The association oversees a program of dredging “public waterways,” according to an affidavit submitted by the town.
Dredging in these waterways is necessary to preserve “public access and navigation of the creeks.” Sediment carried in rivers around Hilton Head settles into tidal creeks, creating a buildup, according to a letter from the group’s president to the then-Hilton Head Mayor in 2017.
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In a memo presented to town council, the waterways in question were “used by the public for docking, sightseeing, navigation and provide access to public and other amenities and other tourism-related activities.”
In May 2022, the town council authorized the town manager, Marc Orlando, to enter into an agreement with SIDA, according to the court decision. The group privately funded the dredging projects until the town granted its first subsidy in 2017, according to testimony from the group’s president, John Brinkley.
The town’s agreement with the group said not dredging would cause Harbour Town Marina and Braddock Cove Creek to “lose their usefulness, reputation and ability to generate significant tourism related economic activity for Hilton Head Island,” according to the court’s decision.
The 2022 funding came months after a group of Sea Pines residents, including the then-Beaufort County Council member Stu Rodman, withdrew plans to create a rarely used mechanism called a special tax district to help fund the dredging project, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet.
The proposal would have raised property taxes for more than 200 property owners near Baynard Creek in Sea Pines. Supporters of the tax district said the creek had not been dredged in more than a decade, and they needed to clean it up to maintain their property value.
Opponents said only a few property owners who lived near the dredging site would benefit. They also pointed out that the creek flowed directly behind Rodman’s home, raising ethical questions, since he sat on the county’s governing body that would have advisory power over the district, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet.
Rodman previously told the newspaper he was not pushing for the taxing district, and that he would have recused himself from voting if it ever came before council.
When approached for comment on the lawsuit, the town declined, citing their standard operating procedure on pending litigation.
